Resilient material



Sept. 5, 1939. R, PICARD 2,171,805

RESILIENT MATERIAL Filed July 2, 1957 VENTOR.

Fene' [Card BY? TTOR Patented Sept. 5, 1939 PATENT OFFICE RESILIENT MATERIAL Rene Picard, Paris, France, assignor to E. I (in I Pont de Nemonrs & Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application July 2, 1931, Serial No. 151,150 In France July 29, 1936 3 Claims.

This invention relates to resilient articles such as cushions, mats, tires, etc. More particularly, it relates to resilient materials or articles which it is desired to have of light weight.

For many years various types of filling materials for light-weight resilient articles such as mattresses, cushions, life preservers, paddings of all sorts, and the like, have been used. In other cases, light-weight resilient articles where buoyancy is desired, such as tires, life preservers and the like, have been filled with air or other gas, usually under pressure. In such a case, of course, the materials enclosing the confined gases must be relatively impervious to such gases. If a single hole is formed therein, the confined gas will be allowed to escape and, if, it is under high pressure, may cause considerable damage in so escaping.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a new type of light-weight filling material for such articles as mattresses, cushions, pads, life-preservers, rubber tires,and the like. Another object is to provide a filling material for spaces where lightness in weight of the filling material is a prime requisite. Still another object is to provide such a filling material which can be useful for insulation, both sound and heat, within either flexible or rigid containing walls. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The objects of this invention are accomplished in general by providing as a filling material for mattresses, pads, cushions, life-preservers, rubber tires, and the like, a filamentary structure provided with discontinuous hollow enlarged portions or bubbles filled with air or other gas, said thread being formed from non-porous artificial material so that said bubbles or enlarged portions will be substantially impervious to the escape of air or other gas confined therein.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an enlarged crosssectional side view of the filamentary material for use in accordance with this invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation on a reduced scale of a cushion employing as afilling material the filamentary material illustrated in Figure 1.

In the preferred form of the invention, the filaments are formed from solution or colloidal dispersion in water or organic solvents. The most readily available material is regenerated cellulose formed from viscose although other materials such as regenerated cellulose from cuprammonium solution; lowly etherified or esterified cellulose derivatives soluble in aqueous alkaline solution such as lowly etherified methyl, ethyl or glycol cellulose, and lowly esterified cellulose acetate; highly esterified cellulose derivatives soluble in organic solvents such as cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate, cellulose acetatepropionate, methyl, ethyl or benzyl. cellulose; colloidal dispersions oi proteins such as casein,

gelatin and the like; and other materials such.

as artificial resins of various kinds may likewise be used. v It is preferred, however, to employ cellulose regenerated from viscose and in the further description of the invention, specific reference will be made to this material.

Thesolution is preferably extruded into a coagulating bath or an evaporative atmosphere through a spinneret hole of relatively large size so that the bubbles formed in the thread will be relatively tough and resistant to breakage. The

thread formed should, therefore, preferably be in a single filament of at least-100 denier or more. The bubbles are obtained in these products by extruding the viscose through a single hole spinneret having a lateral outlet tube through which,

intermittently but suddenly, a gas is blown into the jet of viscose or other coaguable solution extruded from the opening of the spinneret, The openingof the spinneret may be round, polygonal or any other similar shape. If large rather regular 'bubbles are desired, the gas should be blown into the viscose near the outlet of the spinneret. If more irregular effects are desired, the gas is injected at some distance from the spinneret opening. Annular spinnerets may also be used in which the gas may beblown intermittently and very suddenly through an axial tube extending into the completely or partially coagulated thread. The gas may be injected by means of a stop-cock with revolving outer tube connected with the gas conduit under pressure and with the outlet tube. Pulsating pumps may also be used. Gases to be employed may be very slightly soluble inert gases such as air, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygenand others or may be gases which dissolve to a great extent in the viscose or other coagulable solution and are liberated under the physical or chemical action of the coagulating medium such as, for example, carbon dioxide or ammonia.

After formation, the threads may be coated, if desired, with suitable coating compositions, such as waterproof lacquers for use where the material may come in contact with water.

The thread-like structures thus formed, after suitable purification and drying, as is well known in the art of manufacturing rayon, is then ready for incorporation into resilient articles] They may be wound in the form of skeins or laid in orderly layers or merely introduced in haphazard fashion somewhat similar to packing with excelsior, such as ,whenused to fill free spaces in packing. They are confined by means of a suitable covering such as a fabric in the case of cushions, mattresses, pads, life-preservers, and the like, or more durable and impervious coverings such as rubber in the case of tires for automobiles, wagons, bicycles, airplanes, etc. In other cases, the covering may be relatively impermanent such as when the filamentary material is used as a packing for fragile articles as a substitute for excelsior. Normally, of course, the covering is flexible, .since in this fashion the greatest use may be made of the resilient qualities of the article. In some cases, however, it may be used Where the covering is not normally flexible but where lightness in weight is desirable, such as heat or sound insulation for. airplanes, houses, automobiles, buses, railway carriages, pipe coverings, etc. In these cases the covering may be either flexible or inflexible but the former is preferred since generally it is lighter in weight.

In the case of rubber tires, a protecting sheet or band, for example, of cloth, rubber, etc., is preferably wound around a sufficiently long bundle oi the filamentary material and then the whole is inserted in place'of an air chamber within the usual inner tubing or it is even used without such tubing. The elastic cushion thus produced has very good springiness (provided the wound band is suificiently tight), excellent strength and is substantially puncture-proof.

The advantages in the use of the filamentary material according to this present invention over other filling materials previo .sly used are numerous. In the filling of mattresses, cushions, and stufi'ed animals, for example, it decreases the weight by about (particularly desirable in airplane cushions) and the labor of forming the mattresses and cushions by about 20%. In lifepreservers and other articles in contact with water, the buoyant eiTect is retained for much longer periods of time than ordinary filling materials such as kapok. In its use in automobile tires, airplane tires, and the like, it increases the factor of safety considerably since the puncture of only one,of the bubbles does not appreciably decrease the buoyant effect of the tire and the likelihood oi all bubbles being broken at once is so small as to be negligible. It will be easily seen,

therefore, that there will be no sudden escape of all the contained air or other gas which has a tendency to be destructive as in the case of blowouts. Likewise, punctures from nails, glass and the like in localities where repairs are not readily available will not cause an immediate impairment of the effectiveness of the tire; It can also be used as a complete substitute for air or other gas under pressure in securing buoyant effects, such as in the wings of airplanes landing in distress on Water, canoe and rowboat air chambers, soap, light-weight plastic materials, etc.

The filamentary material which is used as a filling material in accordance with this invention can also be used for other purposes, such as a decorative textile material in knitted, woven, plaited or braided 'ifibrics of all kinds, lampshades, millinery, childrens bathing suits, etc.; table and bric-a-brac ornaments, Christmas tree decorations, confetti for stage use and gala events, etc.; toy gun ammunition and party favors which pop when pulled; as a source and container for gas in small quantities, such as for moth control, perfume and the like; as an evaporation retarder on the surface of volatile liquids or in tank vents; and many other uses. I

Any modification or variation of the invention which conforms to the spirit thereof is intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A resilient article comprising a covering and filling, said filling comprising continuous threads of at least 100 denier containing discontinuous bubbles filled with gas, the side walls of the' thread surrounding said bubbles being sufficiently thin to make them readily yieldable and resilient.

2. A resilient article comprising a covering and filling, said filling comprising continuous threads of at least 100 denier containing discontinuous, substantially gas-impervious bubbles filled with gas, the side walls of the thread surrounding said bubbles being sufficiently thin to make them readily yieldable and resilient.

3. A resilient article comprising a covering and filling, said filling comprising continuous regenerated cellulose threads of at least 100 denier containing discontinuous, substantially gas-impervious bubbles filled with gas, the side walls of the thread surrounding said bubbles being sufiiciently thin to make them readily yieldable and resilient.

. RENE PICARD. 

